Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir,I would like to give your readers some facts about the Transportation Sales Tax proposal the Richland County Board put on the April 9th election ballot. This tax would increase the sales tax rate in Richland County from 6.75% to 7.00%. If approved by the voters it is estimated this tax would generate $250,000...

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Olney Daily Mail - Olney, IL

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Posted Mar. 21, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Updated Mar 21, 2013 at 10:53 AM

Posted Mar. 21, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Updated Mar 21, 2013 at 10:53 AM

Dear Sir,

I would like to give your readers some facts about the Transportation Sales Tax proposal the Richland County Board put on the April 9th election ballot. This tax would increase the sales tax rate in Richland County from 6.75% to 7.00%. If approved by the voters it is estimated this tax would generate $250,000.00 per year. All the proceeds are to be used for rural road maintenance. The Richland County Board has agreed to distribute 55% of all revenues to the nine Township Road Districts. The remaining 45% of the predicted revenues would go to Richland County Highway maintenance. Estimated annual revenues for each entity are: (Richland County-$112,500.00) (Bonpas-$14,007.64) (Claremont-$18,499.14) (Decker-$14,090.01) (Denver-$13,806.29) (German-$13,996.20) (Madison-$14,295.94) (Noble-$16,176.74) (Olney-$17,682.30) (Preston-$14,945.75).

Road District share to be based on the number of miles of roads in each district.

A .25% sales tax will add 25 cents to the cost of a one hundred dollar purchase. This is one quarter for every $100.00 spent. This tax will not be applied to the purchase of a car. This tax will not be applied to the purchase of medicine or groceries.

Richland County and our nine Township Road Districts have seen at $250,000.00 reduction in our annual motor fuel tax receipts from the State of Illinois over the past six years. During this same period of time road maintenance cost have risen dramatically. In the fall of 2003 Richland could buy pothole patch for $26.90 per ton. In the fall of 2012, my department had to pay $57.90 per ton for the same pothole patch. In the fall of 2003, my department paid $.92 per gallon for #2 dyed diesel. In the fall of 2012, my department paid $3.31 per gallon for the same product. Richland County has already made cuts to the Highway Department personnel and our road maintenance material expenditures. The County and Road Districts will be forced to make more cuts in road maintenance unless a new funding source is found. The safety of a road is directly proportional to the amount of maintenance the road receives. If additional funds can't be secured for maintenance, there will be more accidents on the rural roads.

I appreciate you considering this issue. I will provide more information in the near future about how the rural roads effect the economy of all of Richland County including the City of Olney.